Conveying mechanism.



W. J. FOSTER.

CONVEYING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 'NOV- 9' 1912. RE.NEWED.NOV- 6, 1916.

1,227, 128. I Patented May 22, 1917.

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WILLIAM JAMES FO TER, or CLEVELAND, OHIO, assicrivon TO THE onrogianownn.

COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

v OONVEYING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented May 22, 1917.

Application filed November 9, 1912, Serial No. 730,374." Renewed November 6, 1916. Serial No. 129,892.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM JAMES FOSTER, a citizen of the United States, re-' siding at Cleveland, inthe county of Guyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Conveying Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to conveying and exhausting mechanism embodying a conveyer conduit and an exhaust fan casing inserted in such conduit between the air inlet and air exhaust pipes of said conduit, and particularly to a novel construction whereby an exhaust fan may be used with such mechanism in such manner as to overcome and avoid certain defects in devices of this nature as previously employed. In exhaust mechanism as usually constructed, the air inlet pipe is led to the center ofthe fan casing in an axial direction and the exhaust pipe is led away from the periphery of the fan in a tangential direction,'the air current being forced to make a very abrupt change within the fan casing. For air alone, this arrangement operates very satisfactorily, owing to the small inertia of the gaseous molecules, but when particles of any material size and weight are suspended in the air, as is necessarily the case in pneu- -rnatic conveying mechanism, the amount of energy required to change the direction of motion of these particles isvery considerable and is all a dead loss. In addition, if

-it will be 'understoodthat the same is but the material be of granular form, whether of a brittle or an abrasive nature, the effect of the same is either to abrade and destroy the fan rapidly or to injure the material being transported. In case the material be or a nbrous, tenacious, or textile nature, such as straw, rags, paper, shavings, and the like, there is'the additional danger that th material will become entangled in and adhere to the parts of the *fan.

The object of this lnventlon 1s theprovision of a device wherein the suction-shall be produced uponthe inlet pipe in substantially the same manner as in the devices now Ordinarily employed, but without bringing the material transported or conveyed by said pipe into contact with the fan blades in any mannergand without the necessity of changing, at least materially,

the direction of movement of such transported material; the provision of a device operated with less power and less wear than previous devices of this nature; the provision ofa device of this nature of great simplicity, reliability, :cheapness and efiitween these two fans and'preferably below their centers, the pipe having the plane of its mouth substantially at the center of the fans. The discharge or outlet pipe of said conduit islocated immediately opposite the end of the admission pipe,. so that the suspended material entering the casing through the admission pipe can continue in the direction given theretoby saidpipe and the exhaust without touching either of the fans and without material contact with the easing. The'blades of the fans are also preferably inclined in opposite directions, and v the arrangement of the fans tends to equalize the lateral pull'orsuction produced thereby upon the dust-laden air which enters the casing through the admissionpipe.

In the 'drawmgs accompanying and forming a part of'this application I have illustrated one form of construction in which the invention may be embodied, although a singlefillustration of a number which might be adopted 'ior the endin view. In these drawings "Figure 1 is a perspectiveview of a fan constructed "in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal cross'sec'tional View takenthrough the middle of the casing and of the inlet pipe and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse cross sectional view taken through the middle of the casing showing the fans andinlet pipe in'elevation.

' V D'escribing the parts byreference characters, I denotes the casing, which is of sheet metal and is preferably of spiral cross sections with its axis substantially horizontal, the casing being. closed at itsend by flat vertical plates 2, 2. Journaled longitudinally of the casing in bearings 3, 3 is a r'o' tatable shaft l having at one end outside of the casing a belt pulley 5 adapted to receive a suitable belt 6. This shaft is substantially coincident with the axis of the casing, being located a short distance above and at one side of the center of the casing, as illustrated in Fig. 3. Secured to the shaft Within the casing and adjacent to each of the end plates 2, 2 is a hub 7 to which is secured a plurality of vertical arms 8 having blades 9 secured thereto. The length of these blades is preferably such as to cause them to approach rather closely to the wall 1 of the casing at the nearest point thereof, which point, for clearness of description, will hereafter be referred to as the front sideof the casing. Accordingly the blades are separated from the casing wall by an increasingly greater distance throughout the remainder of their extremities, this distance being greatest at the rear and bottom part of the casing, as clearly shown in Fig. 3.

Projecting through a suitable aperture in the rearward wall of the casing is an admission pipe 10, said pipe being of any .desired cross-sectional shape (although here shown as circular) and having its diameter not greater than the distance between the adjacent edges of the blades of opposite fans. The upper end of this pipe is at a point substantially even with the shaft 4, as shown in Fig. 3, and lies below that shaft and preferably closely adjacent thereto. The forward side of the casing is formed at a point opposite to the mouth of the pipe 10 with an outlet opening 12 running from end to end of the casing, and secured over this opening is a reducing hood 13 having converging sides 14 and merging with the discharge pipe 15, which pipe is preferably about the same cross sectional area as the admission pipe. It will be seen that the central portion of the discharge opening 12 is opposite the end of, and directly in line with, the pipe 10, the two fans rotating" somewhat above this opening and at each side of the inlet pipe. As a result of this construction and arrangement, the rotation of the fans in the direction indicated by the arrows produces twoopposed lateral suctions upon the endof the inlet pipe, causing a strong current of air to flow therethrough, which air, by reason of its fluidity and the smallness of its inertia, is delivered to the central portions of the fans. This air is then thrown off from the peripheries of the fans in the usual manner and passes out of the casing through the end portions of the discharge outlet. Any heavy material, whether of an abrasive, brittle, fibrous, granular, or other nature, suspendedin the air passing through the inlet pipe will, by reason of its comparatively great inertia and the balancing of the lateral action of one fan against the other, be carried across the casing and into the outlet opening 12 without coming into contact with the fan blades. The converging sides 14 of the hood throw the discharged air inwardly toward the center of the outlet pipe,where the material is again caught up by the air and carried to its destination.

In the drawing I-have illustrated the blades 9, 9 of the fans as inclined with re spect to the axis thereof, the inclination in each case being such as to assist in drawing the air laterally away from the mouth of the admission pipe. I find, however, that fans with straight blades will operate very satisfactorily, and consider this modification as fully within the scope of my invention. Likewise I have shown the inner ends of the fan blades as cut away at-their corners, in accordance with the usual practice, and have illustrated the end plates 2, 2 as provided with conical sheet metal members 18 surrounding the shaft and projectinginto the recesses formed at the center of the fan by the cut-off corners of the blades. Furthermore I have illustrated the fan casing as provided with the admission pipe 10 mounted in an inclined position, but it will be understood that any other suitable arrangement could be employed, provided only that the admission pipe be operative with the outlet, whereby material may be delivered from one to the other without changing direction.

Therefore, while I have described my in vention in detail, I do not propose to be limited to such details except as they may be specifically recited in the claims hereto annexed or may be rendered necessary by the prior state of the art. r Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In conveyer mechanism, the combination of a fan casing, a pair of laterally in substantially the same line and having, on the same side of such axis, an inlet and an outlet openinggthe inlet opening being interposed between the fans, and a conveyer conduit comprising an inlet pipe projecting into the casing through the inlet opening to ward the outlet opening and arranged at one side of the axis of the fan and an exhaust pipe extending from the outlet opening.

2. In conveyer mechanism, the combination of a fan casing, a pair of laterally spaced fans therein having their axes in substantially the same straight line, the casing having an inlet and'an' outlet opening at one side of the axes of the fans, the inlet opening being interposed between the fans, and aconveyer conduit comprising an inlet pipe pro ecting through the inlet opening into the casing substantially as far as and at haust pipe communicating with the outlet opening, the fans being arranged to produce a suction upon the discharge end of the inlet pipe acting in opposite lateral directions and the fan casing being closed except for the inlet and outlet openings.

3. In conveyer mechanism, the combination of a casing spiral in cross section, a pair of laterally spaced fans in said casing having their axes coincident with the axis of the casing said casing having a tangential discharge opening at the bottom thereof and an inlet opening, a conveyer conduit comprising an inlet pipe projecting through the inlet opening of the casing toward the outlet opening and projecting as far as the axis of the casing with its discharge opening below said axis and an exhaust pipe extending from the outlet opening.

4. In conveyer mechanism, the combination of a casing spiral in cross section and having a tangential discharge outlet, a pair of fans having their centers located in the axis of the spiral casing, said fans being spaced apart and arranged to produce a lateral movement of fluid in opposite directions, and a conveyer conduit comprising an inlet pipe entering the casing and projecting substantially as far as the centers of the fans and having its discharge opening directed toward the discharge outlet and an exhaust pipe communicating with said outlet, said casing being closed except for the inlet and outlet.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM JAMES FOSTER. Witnesses:

J. B. HULL, BRENNAN B. WEST.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

